Re: MiniMills&Ballscrew?

Dave:

I looked around some when selecting a ball screw retrofit kit for my mill. I
looked at both kits and non-kit ballscrews. Considering both cost and
availability I went with Rockford Ballscrew. They also had a kit for my "not
quite Bridgeport" mill. I've been happy with their kit.

I recently purchased a ballscrew and anti-backlash nut for my Z-axis
retrofit. I went back to Rockford for these. This is their R-30 screw .651"
OD. The costs were $123 for the nut, $16.50/ft for the screw, and an $8 cut
change. This was for their "precision" rolled ball screw. Their standard
ballscrew was $11.50/ft. I suspect the "precision" is just measured and
selected from the standard. I believe these were speced at .002" or .003" per
foot. I haven't put these together yet, the nut is still off the screw as I'm
in the middle of building the Z-axis.

There is a real break between rolled and ground. The rolled are less
expensive but not as accurate. The ground are very expensive and quite
accurate. If the price you see is out of bounds, it's probably a ground
screw.

That's my experience. Hope it's of some help. :-)

On Tuesday 15 January 2002 04:22 pm, you wrote:
>
> Could someone point me in the direction of suppliers for zero backlash
> ballscrews and nuts for a project such as being discussed? Anyone willing
> to put forth a general range of prices I should expect to see (so I don't
> either pay WAY too much or don't waste my time searching for a "better"
> deal)
>

--
Hugh Currin, PE
Oregon Institute of Technology
Klamath Falls, OR